don't get caught having to come back. >> go to boston! >> john? >> thank you, cole. i learned that i will try to spend most friday mornings in ft. lee. good coffee, willie geist is here, so these are things that you can't -- >> tell him to wrap it. >> harold? >> you've got to be gutsy if you're going to get education reform done, because we want your future to be -- >> keep it going, cole, wrap it up. >> i'll pass my time to melissa harris-perry. >> i think part of what i learned today that education is not for snobs. education is for everyone! >> i learned that harold ford is a champion of big oil. what did you learn, jose? >> i learned two things. my daughter lost her front tooth fairy and the tooth fairy's been giving a lot more money than i thought recently. that's what i learned. >> now ask willie, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> if it's way too early, what time is it? >> good job, my man, cole.

it's "morning joe." four days to go before super tuesday. mitt romney, not even campaigning in a super tuesday state. why? he's learned from past mistakes. he's focused on washington's standard caucuses, even though no delegates are awarded. will romney's "whatever it takes" strategy pay off tomorrow and on tuesday? and so much for that time. michigan officials award mitt romney another dealegate. and super tuesday won't just be about the presidential primaries, it's also the first round of congressional primaries. and redistricting that has left house members fighting with colleagues from their own party to keep their seats. it's win or go home time for some very familiar faces. it's friday, march 2nd, this is "the daily rundown." let's get right to my first read of the morning. 11 states vote in the next four

days. and unlike a month ago, mitt romney is leaving nothing to chance. he's spending today in washington state, where he's making a full-fledged effort to win the caucuses, although there's no delegates at stake. romney is determined not to make the same mistake the campaign made in the colorado caucuses, and the company is counting every delegate now. >> with 28 delegates, you could come out of here with more delegates than in michigan. >> is it a winner take all? >> it's proportional. >> proportional. try to get as many as you can. >> yesterday he was in idaho, which also holds a caucus on tuesday. he really packed in the supporters, 1,200 of them into a gym, for one of the biggest and most enthusiastic events of his entire campaign, in idaho. >> you seem to be more than slightly inclined to support my candidacy. is that right? >> he even had an overflow room, folks. the super tuesday prize is ohio, and tonight romney gets back up

in the buckeye state there. new jersey governor chris christie will join him for a rally at cleveland state. quinnipiac poll out this morning shows the race in ohio is tight. santorum leads romney, among likely republican voters, 35/31, gingrich sitting at 17. our new nbc/marist poll this sunday on meet the press. rick santorum stumps in ohio today as well, but made a detour yesterday to newt's home state, georgia, another super tuesday state, where he blasted romney on the blunt amendment. >> we saw an insight into what's in the gut of governor romney. his knee-jerk reaction was, no, i can't be for that. well, then after his consultants talked to him and then he came back and said, oh, i didn't understand the question. my gut reaction would be, you stand for the first amendment. you stand for freedom of religion. you stand for the first amendment rights. >> while in georgia, santorum put a little pressure on

gingrich while in that home state of newt's. >> this race is narrowing down. and we need the people of georgia to stand with the conservative to make sure that the washington establishment doesn't again give us another moderate republican. >> by the way, gingrich has upped the stakes for his own performance on tuesday. >> i have to win georgia, i think, to be credible in the race. >> can't put it any better than that if you're newt gingrich. santorum, by the way, guaranteed that he would probably be first or second in every single super tuesday state. so keep track of that as well. another republican state party snafu. another post-game win for romney. is there a pattern here? rick santorum debuted a new ask for voters in washington state last night ahead of tomorrow's caucus. >> make sure you don't leave. you've got to vote for the delegates. the preference poll is great. we want to win.

but we want to win the delegates. governor romney found out how great a win is, and then you walk out with only half the delegates, not all of them. we need to win and win the delegates too. >> that was no accident. santorum learned that the hard way, we think, with what happened in minnesota and colorado. more on that later. but the michigan republican party voted wednesday night to award its two at-large delegates to the statewide winner instead of dividing them up proportionally, as the rules initially stated. it now gives romney a 16-14 edge in the state instead of that 15-15 tie. but in an interview a few weeks ago, the michigan party chair clearly stated that michigan's at-large delegates would be awarded proportionately. here's what he told us. >> the two at-large that remain, provided the individual candidate won at least 15% of the statewide vote, okay, with four candidates, that's likely

to happen, then they get awarded proportiona proportionately, those delegates. >> by the way, he went on to say, there wouldn't be any ro ss the top two vote getters at that point would each get one. the santorum campaign immediately called foul, saying the decision was backroom dealing and political thuggery, and santorum himself blasted the romney campaign. >> that's it, the good old boy network. you know, they have to change the rules after the game so they can win. that's pathetic. you really see what the romney campaign is all about. anything to win, after the fact, break the rules, rewrite the rules. that's not the way republicans and conservatives do it. but he's new to the conservative cause, so i'm not surprised he doesn't know that. >> santorum's already fund-raising off the decision, telling supporters, "changing the rules after the election is something that happens in iran, but not in america."

on a conference call with reporters, santorum advisers say they have drafted a letter to the rnc, calling for immediate intervention into michigan's decision. now, that's just the latest state party snafu this season that benefited romney. remember, the iowa republican party originally declared romney the winner there. and even once the vote count had changed, it was hesitant to call santorum the winner. in maine, the gom name e gop na the winner before all the votes were counted. we also learned something else yesterday. santorum only yesterday now has somebody running a delegate-counting operation. tells you they've got a long way to go as well. >> as mel brooks said, it's good to be the king. in this case, it's also good to be the incumbent president. as the republican candidates were battling over contraception, each other's record, and that single delegate in michigan, the president was hosting a white house dinner honoring the troops returning from the iraq war, giving an interview to espn's bill simmons, showing the i'm just

like an average sports fan knowledge, even inspected engines during an energy event in the swing state of new hampshire, where he asked congress to end subsidies on oil and gas companies. >> let's put every single member of congress on record. you can stand with the oil companies or you can stand up for the american people. >> at a closed fund-raiser in new york city last night, obama even needled his republican opponents saying, "i recommend you watch the recent debates. we're thinking about just running those as advertisements as snippets, without commentary." and in 2008, he said, i was running against a general election candidate who believed in banning torture, who believed in doing something about climate change, someone who could never get a nomination this time, because he was too liberal. the president feeling some swagger these days as he watches his poll numbers improve in the wake of what's turning into a

very, very rough battle between the two republicans. and now you understand why there's so much hand-wringing inside the republican party. all right. three of america's most prominent mayors, they're here in washington today. they're joining education secretary arne duncan for a forum on education. it's a subject president obama made a priority while addressing the nation's governors earlier this week. >> we've all faced some stark choices over the past several years, but that is no excuse to lose sight of what matters most. and the fact is that too many states are making cuts to education that i believe are simply too big. >> i'm calling on all of you, invest more in education. invest more in our children and in our future. >> los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa will be at today's educational summit with the chicago mayor and the new york mayor, michael bloomberg, and the panel will be moderated by my friend, andrea mitchell. mr. mayor, welcome. >> great to be on the show with you, in person.

>> it's good to have you out here in person. and we'll talk about the dodgers in a minute. but i want to go through, this is a stunning stat. the three districts combined. l.a., chicago, and new york, 2.5 million students, 77% of them are poor. this is your challenge, this is, i take it, so i guess my we to you is, you president basically begging governors to give you more resources. is there just no federal government resources there that can help you out in this case? >> first of all, i agree with the president that the governors need to do more to put their money where their mouth is and invest in our schools and in our education. i also believe that we need to connect that money to reform and accountability, to improving our schools. and, yes, i think there is something the federal government could do. they get allowed districts like los angeles, chicago, and new york, that are engaged in reform, that are doing the kinds of things that we need to do to improve our schools, to be able to compete for race to the top

dollars, to get waivers from nclb. >> let me stop you there. so race to the top, it's a state program. >> state program. >> and you would like to -- >> and my city's bigger than how many states. >> so you would like to compete separately? >> yes, i would. >> what would that mean? what other flexibility would that give you? >> it would give us a flexibility to do things like multiple measures of evaluations. to be able to track the effective and highly effective teachers and who are the teachers that need help. it would allow us to do things that we can't currently do by state law or federal law. and it would give us the flexibility that we need to improve our schools. >> you know, when you see -- you know, there seems to be different ways, different school systems are run. sometimes the mayors have -- you have more direct control over others. sometimes the board has more control, and i think in the case of chicago and new york, you have a little more control than they do. >> no, actually -- >> you feel like you have less? >> in new york and chicago, they run the schools. i tried to do the same.

i tried to get legislation to partner with the schools. it was ruled unconstitutional when it went through the courts. i've had to help elect a progressive majority by taking on the status quo and raising a lot of money to make sure that we have school board members that are going to set the highest expectations for our kids. and as a result, our schools in l.a. are actually improving. >> what is it about the flexibility issues you have -- do you feel like the labor unions are working with you in a way that they were rn't before? >> well, look, i strongly believe we need to put parents and teachers in front of the movement to improve our schools. but the fact is, the teachers unions in many cases, particularly in california, have been an impediment to that. we've challenged the issue of seniority as an example. we've got great teachers, but they're evaluated purely on how long they've been there. when you're assigned or promote ordinary laid off. so we've had to lay off with all the cuts some of our best

teachers, because of seniority and tenure. where it's taken -- it's the only factor, and there aren't other factors in evaluating our teachers. it's very difficult to dismiss teachers. you know, i tell people, if i had a third term, which i don't, and i ran for a third term, and i said, vote for me, i've been here the longest, everyone would look at me with a stared glaze. the fact is, we have teachers in our schools today who are there because they've been there the longest. and while there are a lot of great teachers, we need to work with our teachers unions to be able to have the flexibility to put the best teachers in our classrooms, and particularly, in the most difficult classrooms in our urban schools. >> let me ask you about something else that came up, obviously, in your city a couple of weeks ago. it was this issue of a horrible situation of some kids being sexually abused. but it seems to get at this larger issue of the erosion of trust between -- and it's not just -- i want to say, it's not just in schools.

but this fear that we don't trust government leaders. now parents may not trust sending their kids to school. what do we do about this issue? because, you know, maybe it's just the times that we live in, and that we're always focusing on the negative, but there seems to be this trust gap with the public in way that we haven't seen before. >> you know, you said it. it's not just a crime, and it is a crime. it's not just a horrendous abuse of children, it's a violation of the trust that people have when they send their kids to our schools. it's why i've written our governor and said that we have to address how difficult it is to dismiss some of these people. the school district had to pay $40,000 for this individual, one of the individuals -- >> you had to pay him to leave? >> pay him to leave because of the rules that we have. he's going to get a pension, even though he, you know, he's done what he's done, to so many kids. it's just wrong. and i believe there's a way to work together, with our teacher's unions and our

legislators to fix these things that are broken. and that's really what we're going to be talking about. we're going to talk about innovation, we're going to talk about choice and flexibility. we're going to talk about the importance of setting the highest standards for our kids. you know, i don't quote president bush very often, but when he talked about the soft bigotry of low expectations, he hit it right on the head. these kids can learn. they may be poor. i was poor. i can read and write, and these kids can read and write too. and i think that's why the three mayors are here in washington, d.c. to really challenge all of us to do better with these kids. >> we'll see how you come with getting arne duncan to get you involved in race to the top. magic johnson going to be the next one on the dodgers? >> he's a good man. >> if he's not, he wants to be mayor, right? >> he should be. he should be. >> you're endorsing him now. all right. thanks for coming on. look forward to the panel this morning. >> thank you. >> that education forum will be moderated, of course, by msnbc, and nbc's own andrea mitchell. she'll have all the highlights

on her show at 1:00 today. well, president obama clearly feeling confident this week, but it's a long eight months until election day. stephanie cutter joins me next. allies become adversaries and one of the best-known faces on congress could get ousted on tuesday. we're taking a deep dive into these member versus member races when lawmakers have to fight their friends to keep their jobs. but first, a look ahead, the president's schedule, as you can see, he's going to walter reed t today. you're watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. now herbal essences has more styling products to let you shape shift your look from straight to curls... to up-do. the new herbal essences stylers -- this shape shifts everything. weight loss programs can be expensive. so to save some money, i just got the popular girls from the local middle school

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none of this change -- >> no war in iran! >> nobody's announced a war, young lady, so -- but we appreciate your sentiment. you're jumping the gun a little bit there. >> well, that was how president obama handled a heckler at a new york fund-raiser last night, but a looming crisis with iran will take center stage in the days ahead. the president will address the pro-israel lobbying group apec on sunday, followed by a meeting -- a white house meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on monday, and a new interview with the atlantic this morning, president obama said he's not bluffing on iran and that all options are on the table. it's one of those issues that's suddenly popped up in the presidential race. joining me now is stephanie cutter, a campaign manager for the president. i want to visit, you see it come

up and the president talking about this. it does come up on the campaign trail. this seems to be one of those uncomfortable issues for the president. the base wouldn't be happy, at the same time, there clearly are a lot of jewish donors who are concerned about the fact that the president hasn't been strong enough or sounding strong enough on iran. what do you say? >> you're right, i'm not in the white house anymore and i'm not intimately involved in this policy. but i'll say a couple of things. that the president is right. everything is on the table. and he'll speak more about this over the next several days. he's made it clear that he has israel's back. but he's going to take this approach responsibly. all options are on the table. we have the toughest sanctions in place against iran ever. and people have acknowledged that. he's the commander in chief. he's not doing this to satisfy any particular group. he's doing this to protect israel and to protect national security of americans here at home.

so he'll speak more about it. you know, for those that maybe criticizing him on the campaign trail, it's interesting. you only get one chance to make a decision as commander in chief. but, you know, potentially, the republican nominee, if romney gets that far, when asked this specific question several years ago about iran, he said he'd have to check with his lawyers about whether we could go in. so time and time again, when asked about foreign policy questions, romney either takes both sides of an issue or equivocates. >> one of the reasons iran is causing, one could argue, the instability with iran is causing this rise in gas prices, putting energy front and center. and i have to say, it does seem as if you guys are a little sensitive that this might be the soft spot for the president's re-election. i want to play a little bit of the very first tv ad that the campaign put out. >> secretive oil billionaires attacking president obama, with ads fact checkers say are not tethered to the facts.

while independent watchdogs call this president's record ee's e unprecedented. >> it so seems to be a two-pronged attack. this is a response ad to these attacks on solyndra and the overall attack that says these clean energy jobs didn't come to fruition the way the president promised. first of all, what do you say to that, and second, is it fair that you wouldn't be putting an ad out there like that if it wasn't taking a toll. >> well, that ad was put out, as you said, in response to a pretty unfair attack by republicans on the president's clean energy investments. the ad was, by every political fact check, denounced for not being accurate. we chose to respond, because we're not going to sit back and let these untruths be said about the president. the president is proud, we are proud of the president's record on clean energy and on insuring that, you know, all options are on the table and all of the

above approach is being taken to ensure that americans are not dependent on foreign oil. we're seeing right now the volatility that comes with being dependent on foreign oil. and we've got some significant accomplishments under our belt. you know, doubling fuel efficiency standards, having the lowest dependency on foreign oil in 16 years, the highest production in eight years. these are real facts. >> politically, how tied is the price of gas to the president's approval rating? have you seen that over time, the last couple of times there's been spikes. >> we have this debate about gas prices every couple of years. it's, you know -- >> sugar high politics. >> a certainty in any election, because gas prices go up and gas prices go down and consumers know that. they know the longer we stay tied to foreign oil, the less control we have of protecting consumers. they don't blame the president. they understand what's going on in the global marketplace, but they also acknowledge that we have to do everything we can to make -- ensure that america is independent and not tied to foreign oil. and they appreciate what the president has done. >> you know, yesterday, vice

president biden was in iowa, and he was talking -- i want to switch gears a little bit to the debate we saw yesterday on capitol hill, about the blunt amendment. the vice president was in iowa, and he said, you know what, he said that the initial rollout of this policy about contraception coverage, health care coverage among religiously run institutions, not counting churches and places of worship, was not done very well, but that they got it the second time. do you concur with that? >> well, i think that a couple of things. when the initial policy was put out, it was put out with a wreer delay in implementation for religious organizations, so we could figure out how best we can handle it. to ensure that women got the health care that they needed. the time frame, obviously, was condensed to a couple of weeks, where we came out with a policy to ensure that we could achieve just that. the balance, of protecting religious liberty, but ensuring women got health care that they needed. you know, i think the vice president has a point, that if we had come to that the policy decision earlier, the debate wouldn't have ensued, and maybe

the vote wouldn't have been taken on the senate floor yesterday by republicans, wanting to restrict women's health and put their bosses in charge of their health care decisions. >> the rhetoric has gotten pretty heated. do you see a political advantage here, frankly, for you, because of some of the harsh rhetoric we've seen? >> well, i want to make a couple of points here. one, the decision made originally to ensure that women could have access to health care was not made because of politics. it was made because of independent science. it protects women's health. it prevents cancer. it makes sure that they can make the health care decisions that they need. that was why the original decision was made. now, we see that republicans have picked up this issue, because they originally thought it would be politically advantageous to them. i think they have overshot the runway and i think they realize that. if you look as what has happened over the last 24 to 48 hours, rush limbaugh has been taking, you know, a young woman's name in vain, on air. sandra fluke, a law student -- >> do you think he should be apologizing to her?

>> i'm sorry? >> do you think rush limbaugh owes her an apology? >> i think rush limbaugh owes her an apology, but i also think that republican candidates who have been running for president who have been bowing at the altar of rush limbaugh should speak out and say he's wrong. the rhetoric has gone over the top. he's calling her names like "prostitute," on air, for two days straight. they should stand up and say that rush limbaugh, who they've been courting now for several years while running for president, they should say he's wrong and stand up for what's right. >> stephanie cutter, got to leave it there. thanks for coming on. we'll get a preview of the day on wall street next in the market rundown. but first, today's trivia question. which member of congress has a child whose god mother is actress shirley mclean? this is a fairly easy one for you real junkies out there. ♪

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opening bell just bang -- just rang, excuse me, on wall street. time for the market rundown. andrew ross sorkin is here. andrew, the car news, averaging $15.1 million in car sales annually, if this rate continues. huge, right? >> it's great news in the automobile business, and maybe says something larger about the economy. still, i have to tell you, the arkets opening up aiwhat's goi. news yelp has its ipo, that stock will be coming out of the gate in a few moments. and we had some other dot-com news, which is that shutterfly just bought kodak's online business. kodak, of course, filed for bankruptcy. but the big news on wall street that has everybody talking is this op-ed in the "wall street journal" by tim geithner and the

passage that everybody's talking about is this one. "my wife occasionally looks up from the newspaper with bewilderment. while reading another story about people in the financial reform or people complaining about lobbyist reform and they didn't need t.a.r.p., she reminds me of the panicked calls she answered for me at home from the then giants of our financial system." tim geithner making a lot of news with that this morning and a lot of e-mail coming in from some of those giant bankers, not so happy, actually, about the op-ed. chuck, back to you. >> not happy that maybe he went public with it. andrew, thanks very much. "the daily rundown," the deep dive, starts in 30 seconds.

super tuesday isn't going to be just about presidential politics, it's already bringing us our first big set of congressional contests. and the marquis race on tuesday, it features a presidential candidate work at least an ex-presidential candidate. dennis kucinich going up against fellow democrat, 15-term congresswoman marcy captor. it's one of a string of races in nearly a dozen states that's going to be pitting incumbents against each other with the losers packing up their congressional offices and heading home. in most cases, it's incumbents facing off against each other in primaries. the reason, of course, redistricting. newly drawn district maps that come out every ten years. in most cases, republicans were in charge in some of these states, redrawing democratic districts and forcing them to

draw those seats. but iowa is losing a seat in the house because of slow population growth. so where there were once five districts, there are now four. it would have forced republican tom latham to battle steve king to kp district. instead, latham's opting to run against democrat leonard boswell in the new third district. but the real battles feature opponents from the same party. take a look at this list. four states, eight republicans going head to head to keep their charge. one of the most heated is the battle for illinois's 16th. adam kinzinger and don manzullo are both trying to paint themselves as the real conservative. kinzinger making not so subtle references to the fact that his opponent is more than 30 years his senior. >> instead of saying, what are we going to spend? i'm part of a new breed of congressman asking, what are we going to cut? >> on the democratic side, off dozen house members doing battle in five states and in a few of these, you're seeing members who

were once good friends now trying to tear each other down. there's that race in new jersey's ninth district, bill pascrell and steve rothman were so close that they used to call each other billy and stevie. well, now the race has gotten bitter and personal. one union leader says it's like picking between parents in a twor divorce. and in pennsylvania, where mark krits and jason altmire are facing off, krits has gone as far as challenging the petition signature gathering methods used by altmire in the long shot hope that he disqualifies altmire and avoids the member-versus-member battle. but the marquis matchup this tuesday will be decided in ohio where two veteran members, dennis kucinich and marcy kaptur face off in that district. kaptur is the longest serving member in the house and the two have served alongside each other for 16 years. in happier times, hours ago, kucinich joked that he was

president of kaptur's fan club. but you wouldn't know it, listening to the two of them now. >> if my opponent opposes war spending so much, why did he go to increase the budget limit in 2002 that increased funding for the war in iraq. that was the critical vote. >> frankly, my friend, if you're trying to equate a vote on a debt limit with the $547 billion that you voted on specific appropriations to give to president bush, you know better. >> think about it. dennis kucinich was just accused of being pro-war. that's not all. kaptur as accused kucinich of being a lightweight and the kucinich campaign has accused kaptur's team of stealing his campaign signs. of course, when all else fails, you bring in the big guns. after kucinich secured endorsements from wille nelson and russell simmons, kaptur went straight to the top. her campaign released a letter from tom hanks, endorsing her re-election. this is how redistricting can lead to political warfare and we're just getting started.

kucinich/kaptur election is the first to be decided next tuesday. but we'll be watching these battles unfold all the way until november. but i have to tell you, there's nothing like a primary fight. they are nasty, ugly, but they do always make you laugh. come on, it's tom hanks versus wille nelson in ohio's ninth. doesn't get any better than that. well, while republicans fight for the top spot of their party's ticket, president obama has been more occupied with his job than his campaign. and that may be his best strategy for now. nbc's kristen welker live at the white house with a look at the president's week. although it does seem like every official event has a little bit of hint of the campaign involved. >> reporter: absolutely. well, you know, chuck, every sitting president sort of has the built-in benefit of being able to stay above it all during the opposing party's primary. this president is no different. he's not been engaging directly with his republican rivals, except to take some subtle and sort of veiled swipes at them, as you just mentioned, at some

carefully crafted times. it's really the type of headlines that even the most well-funded super pac can't buy. and it was all on display this week in washington. >> reporter: this week, it was clear. you just can't beat the power of the presidency. >> how's it going, uaw?! >> reporter: while republicans were duking it out in michigan, ground zero for the auto bailout, president obama spoke to auto union workers, reminding them he was behind the bailout and drawing a contrast with republican front-runner mitt romney, who opposed it. >> some even said we should let detroit go bankrupt. you remember that. >> reporter: and while american energy was the theme of his thursday speech in the battleground state of new hampshire, the president couldn't resist firing a shot across the bow at his republican rivals. >> the easiest thing in the world is to make phony election year promises. about lowering gas prices. >> reporter: privately, the

administration admits the president's best strategy right now is to stay above the fray, except with congress. the legislative body that everyone loves to hate. >> i'm asking congress, eliminate this oil industry giveaway right away. >> reporter: and the headlines were all positive when a dinner honoring iraq war veterans became a white house first. >> these rooms have hosted presidents and prime ministers and kings and queens, but in the history of this house, there's never been a night quite like this. >> reporter: a timely interview aired right before the dinner. >> it's a celebration of the men and women who carried out an extraordinarily difficult mission. >> reporter: but it was wednesday's espn interview that may have scored him the most points, as he talked about his nerves before throwing the first pitch at a major league baseball game. >> is that the most stressful thing you've gone through? >> it is about the most stressful thing. >> because if you ground it, it's on youtube for the next ten years. >> absolutely. >> reporter: and taking a look at next week, chuck, president

obama will be meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on monday, in what some are calling the most consequential meeting the two will have in years, given the mounting tension with iran. chuck? >> plus the big apec speech on sunday, where they're giving every indication that we're going to have to hear a more aggressive-sounding president than we've ever heard when it comes to the potential use of military force against iran. >> reporter: absolutely. >> kristen welker at the white house, thanks very much. the big friday political panel will be here next. plus, i'm sharing my weekender wisdom, something big i didn't know when the week began that i think i know now. and a programming note for you. this sunday on nbc's "meet the press," presidential candidate newt gingrich, is it do-or-die for him on tuesday? plus house republican leader eric cantor and dnc chairwoman debbie wasserman schultz. check your local listings. we'll also have two brand-new polls to day bebut on "meet the press." but first, white house soup of

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coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? while the contraception debate raged on capitol hill thursday, rush limbaugh gave listeners his take on sandra fluke, the georgetown student that was barred from the house hearing on this issue. >> the georgetown student who went before a congressional committee and said she's having so much sex she's going broke buying contraceptives and wants us to buy them. i said, well, what would you call someone who wants us to pay for her to have sex? what would you call that woman? you'd call a slut, a prostitute. we are paying her to have sex. >> let's bring in the panel.

nathan gonzalez, deputy editor for the rothenberg political report and founder of politics instereo.com, kim alfano, and shirrra tullets. let's give sandra fluke a chance to respond. she responded this morning on the "today" show to those limbaugh comments. >> my reaction was the reaction that a lot of women have had when historically they've been called these types of names. to be stunned by it, but to quickly feel outraged and upset. a very important thing to think about, in our society, in certain sectors, this is evidently still acceptable and that's obviously just very problematic. >> kim, fair or unfair, rush limbaugh and the republican party is thought of us as one of the, you know, leading outside voices in the tent of the republican party. he's saying this. how do you react? >> it is outrageous. i mean, it is. you know, what's more frustrating to me as a message

person for the party is, you know, we took this bait from the president, granted the media's pulling us off. i mean, our guys have been talking about the economy, and you'd think, if you watched the media coverage of the contraception debate, that that's all they've been talking about out there. it's not. they are giving speeches on the economy. but we took the bait. and we went down the rabbit hole and we need to be talking about the economy, the economy, the economy. because that's where we're going to win the election. and it's frustrating. and limbaugh doesn't help. we need to be talking about the economy. we're going to win the race on the economy. >> you heard stephanie cutter, an obama surrogate, sitting there and saying the republican presidential candidates should denounce rush, but it is one of those momentums where you say, should the candidates say something? i mean, wait a minute, that was beyond the peale. >> it is beyond the pale. rush is bombastic. rush doesn't help right now. rush -- right now the

candidates, no matter what's going on, need to be saying, the president's policies are wrong for the country. bigger government is wrong for the country. more regulation, wrong for the country. we're bad at elections if we're not talking about what's wrong for the country. we need to win the race. if we let this sleep, we're doing something wrong. it's such a big ball, a big softball. why are we not winning? >> it was five straight days, and the very disciplined, normally disciplined senate leadership, mitch mcconnell, five straight days, don stewart e-mailing, here's what we're saying about energy today, here's what we're saying about energy today, energy, energy, energy. white house sensitive to us. there you go up to nashua, new hampshire, having an energy event. but yesterday, the president's talking about energy, and as kim said, the republicans were not. i heard there was a lot of hand-wringing over, why did you go forward with this amendment? there was no need to, you sort of move on. >> right, republicans are caught. i think one of the consequences of being in the majority is, it's tough to agree.

and with blunt, you know, there's still these ties to the most conservative element of the party. and they have to shift, as kim said, they have to shift to obama and the economy. and i think that that will happen, once the nomination is decided. but for right now, with all of this uncertainty, republicans have to get on the same page if they have any chance of defeating the president. >> i've had some other republicans say that this is a case where you're allowing the minority of the party dictate the messaging of the day a little bit too much. where there's just always a concern about, you know, don't -- you look at a mitt romney, why didn't he go after rick santorum on the education stuff? well, it's because he just -- it's because he doesn't want to rile up the conservative base. how sensitive do you see when you cover these members of congress, that they will say privately one thing, and say, but i can't say it publicly? >> oh, they say one thing, obviously, for the record, and one thing when you're talking to them on background and then other terms, they'll be a little more candid about these things. obviously, sometimes they'll support what the presidential candidates have to say, but many times, privately, they say

they've gone too far on a lot of these issues and they're surprised they aren't more forthright on some issues, like the education issue you just mentioned. >> kim, is there a benefit for a republican to sort of say, look, i'm conservative, but i'm not going here, i'm not going -- is there a benefit to sort of speak. you're involved in one of these tough races where dick lugar, your consultant for him, he's getting challenged for not being conservative enough. richard nixon's favorite mayor is apparently not conservative enough for the indiana republican party. i'm still sort of shell shocked by that. lugar's standing up, but are there others that need to do that? >> they do. and what you'll find is the base of the party does get excited when you talk about the conservative economic policies that people like lugar do support. i mean, the keystone pipeline. we're for the keystone pipeline. let's talk about the keystone pipeline. the president messed up there. he really messed up. he stuck his foot in it. if romney just fixated on the keystone pipeline, we'd be against obama, we'd be talking about the right things, and the

conservatives who may be somewhat excited about the fact that, you know, originally, we were saying the right thing on the contraception thing too. it was an overreach of contraception thing too. it was an overreach of government. that's really the big issue there. if we had stuck with that part of it, we might have been okay. stick with the keystone pipeline, that's a great issue. and the base was excited about that it too. >> let's talk about ohio. we have a poll here. does romney find himself back in the same spot he was pre-michigan if he loses ohio? >> romney has the opportunity to put away and generate enough momentum where it's impossible for santorum to win. that's if romney wins ohio. but if santorum gets ohio, that's going to be a big symbolic victory for him that's going to extend this. >> you were just there. there's a split. ohio, social conservative issues can pop anxieties there too.

>> there's another interesting split in ohio. you have rural versus suburban republicans there. it's interesting to see mitt romney try to play more to the suburban conservatives where santorum is trying to reach for the rural voters. >> stick around. i want to talk about some senate races. that's after the break. trivia. which member of congress has a child whose goodmother is actress shirley macclan? that's dennis kucinich. one chance to hunt down the right insurance at the right price. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. ready, aim, save! grrr! ooh, i forgot my phone!

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time for a little weekender wisdom. something that challenged my thinking. this week it's the fallout from olympia snow's retirement. the republican fight to take back the majority rests on the result of the presidential

election. let's bring back our panel. we put up our top ten takeovers. nathan, i'm going to start it with you. you take snow out of this thing, you put the snow race in the democratic column. nobody seems to be arguing that. that it's leaning democratic. you look at the rest of the tossup races that republicans have to win now to get control of the senate. most of them are in battleground states. virginia, missouri, new mexico, wisconsin, florida. you start looking where they have to win. that means they are more intertwined than ever. fair? >> fair. it changes the calculation for republicans. they not only have to win these states like north dakota, which should be in their column but it's going to be a good fight. >> bob kerry in nebraska. more competitive. >> now with maine, it adds increased importance because

republicans need to get the majority. >> you're involved in the indiana race, which if somehow your client doesn't win, would suddenly be competitive. but when you look at the landscape, how concerned are you about republicans not getting the majority anymore? >> i think it makes our primary important, but we're going to win it. but listen up, republicans. show up for dick lugar in the primary. it it does. it's important. but i think people should pay attention in the general. i think the economy is not so locked down as barack obama thinks. >> if you are a satellite subscriber, i will be hosting part of the roll call. so tune in. >> nathan, what do you got? >> i'm going to break down utah, which even though lugar is the first senate primary incumbent,

march 15th delegates will be chosen to go to the convention. >> that's where it's win or lose. >> based on march 15th. >> kim, i let you go last because you were frantically trying to finish your plug. >> public school. show up for the auction on the 8th. >> my shameless plug is for the state of delaware. we have way too many running around. it for this edition of "the daily rundown." coming up next on msnbc, chris jansing. have a great weekend. bye-bye. there's another way to help eliminate

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